The German reporter Claas Relotius, accused by top news magazine Der Spiegel of faking stories, could now face embezzlement charges.<\/p>\n
Der Spiegel says it is filing a criminal complaint alleging he solicited donations for Syrian orphans from readers with any proceeds going to his personal account.<\/p>\n
Der Spiegel said last week that Relotius admitted faking some stories.<\/p>\n
The reporter, 33, has yet to comment on the embezzlement allegations.<\/p>\n
In the latest development,\u00a0Der Spiegel reports (in German)<\/a>\u00a0that it received messages from readers saying Relotius had used a private email account to ask for donations to help Syrian orphans in Turkey.<\/p>\n The money should be sent to his personal bank account, the magazine quotes readers as saying.<\/p>\n The publication says it is not yet clear what sort of response he received – how much money was collected or where it ended up.<\/p>\n Der Spiegel is gathering evidence to pass on to prosecutors.<\/p>\n Relotius’ appeal for donations was linked to\u00a0an article he wrote about two Syrian street-children, a brother and sister, in Turkey – parts of which Der Spiegel says were faked<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Turkish photographer who accompanied Relotius on the story said the reporter had made up some aspects of the boy’s life and heavily fictionalised others.<\/p>\n The photographer suspects that the sister may not have existed at all.<\/p>\n The American ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, has also intervened, writing to Der Spiegel’s editor to demand an independent investigation and accusing the publication of institutional bias against the US.<\/p>\n Like many publications, Der Spiegel has carried stories critical of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n One of the Relotius stories at issue centred on the US-Mexican border. Der Spiegel said its investigation revealed that he had fabricated information about seeing a hand-painted sign in a town in Minnesota that read: “Mexicans Keep Out.”<\/p>\n False information appeared in other stories including one about inmates at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay and another about the US NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.<\/p>\n Relotius, who has been sacked, told the magazine he regretted his actions and was deeply ashamed. According to Der Spiegel, he admitted deceiving readers in some 14 stories.<\/p>\n But he says many of the 60 articles he has written for the magazine are accurate.<\/p>\n The Hamburg-based publication described the revelations as “a low point in Der Spiegel’s 70-year history”.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Institutional bias’<\/h2>\n